Wishes
by themyscira
Summary: Modern AU - Jack lives a terribly ordinary life and often seeks adventures in all the wrong places. He thinks nothing will change and he'll be doomed to a life of mediocrity, that is until a chance encounter turns his world upside down.
1. Chapter 1

**I got a request to write a story where Rapunzel is some sort of Were-creature that Jack accidentally brings home :)**

**As always, sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes!**

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Jack Overland lived a painfully ordinary life that he regularly wished was extraordinary, hence the reason he stayed out past curfew and skipped class. He was well acquainted with the police, a known troublemaker, and despite his charming smile, a loner.

"Jack," His mother said with a sigh, "Not again."

Jack waved at his mother, no easy feat with an officer holding onto each of his arms. She gestured for him to come in after apologizing to the officers for Jack's latest antics. Tonight he was found on a rooftop with a handful of eggs. What he planned to do with those eggs was unknown, but the stink bomb in his pocket suggested nothing good.

After yet another lecture from his mother, who grounded him for three more months, and having his videogames taken away, Jack crawled into bed and slipped on his headphones.

From his window he could see the moon, it shone so beautifully in the starry sky that he almost wished he was up there with it. It was one of Jack's more whimsical thoughts, to be part of the sky and see the whole world from the top instead of below.

"No headphones." His mother, who'd been yelling at him from the doorway, snatched them off his head leaving Jack with nothing but his thoughts. His mind wandered to how stars were formed, and not the scientific explanation, but rather his own version where stars formed from wishes. It was his bedtime story for Emma, his sister.

She'd always ask him what the stars were, at first he'd say plasma, hot gas, any other jargon he'd picked up from school, but it never satisfied her. That's when he started to make up stories; the wish tale was her favorite.

"Wish it was real." Jack mumbled, but that wasn't the only thing he wished, he wanted adventure in his life, he wanted purpose. Day in and day out he got up, went to school, came home, did his homework, ate at the proper times, showered when he remembered and then slept. It was all too boring, too lonely, and extremely uneventful.

"I wish," He said with his eyes on the moon, "Something interesting would happen, something life-changing."

He shut his eyes and tried to sleep but the wish lingered on his mind, he didn't mean to make his mother worry, he'd never wanted that. It's why he offered to do the laundry, and cook dinner for himself and Emma whenever his mother had to work late, he tried hard, he really did. But there was this impulse, especially in the night that made him want to experience the world in ways everyday people refused to.

"I wish," He whispered, "for my life to by changed forever."

He fell asleep after that, and his dreams were full of chasing cars and explosions. By the time he woke up it was morning and everything was still extremely ordinary.

* * *

Jack dangled his keys in front of the kitten sitting in front of the local market. He could tell by its meows it was starving but he only had enough money to buy the groceries his mother asked him to get.

"Maybe I can spare a slice of bread?" He told it. The kitten rubbed against his leg and he smiled. Giving food to the street animals was nothing knew for Jack, there were dozens of them all around the neighborhood and even more deeper into the city. Emma especially loved taking them home with her for a night or two before their mother would send them out.

"She learned that from you." His mother would say, and she was right.

"Wait here." He gave it a stern look and the kitten sat where she stood. Jack nodded at it and walked backwards toward the store with his eyes on it, "Stay."

He roamed the store fairly quickly, picking up milk, bread, eggs, juice, cereal, chicken, cheese, yogurt and a can of green beans. When he reached the clerk he glanced outside the store's glass doors to check on the kitten and saw she had a friend. The friend was human, blonde, and kneeling over with both hands on the kitten's head, gently petting it.

"It's rude to stare." The clerk said, he thought Jack was looking at the girl's _assets_ rather than wondering who she was. Jack hadn't even thought to look in those places, he was more taken aback by the girl's bare feet. It was something Jack did often, especially in the summer but he'd never known anyone else to walk around the neighborhood without shoes.

"Never been one for etiquette." Jack said with a smirk, once he had all his bags, he dashed outside but by then the girl was gone.

"Strange." Jack mumbled. He opened the bread and tore it in pieces for the cat to eat. The cat purred gratefully while Jack checked the corners of the store for the girl. He thought he was crazy but he was sure she was wearing a sack instead of actual clothing, and her hair was so long…

After a few minutes of looking he gave up, shrugged his shoulders and said, "A mystery for another day." He petted the kitten one more time before heading home.

Once the groceries were put away and he'd reheated leftovers for Emma to eat, Jack grabbed his headphones from his mother's dresser, where she kept all her confiscated items, and blasted his music again. He cleaned the bathrooms and vacuumed the living room; he checked the mail and slipped the dirty laundry intro the washer. Then, he curled onto the floor and shut his eyes. It wasn't until he felt Emma poking his cheek that he realized how late it'd gotten.

"Story time!" Emma shouted.

Jack grumbled. He lifted his sister up and pointed to the bathroom, "Did you brush your teeth?"

She nodded.

"Okay then, story time it is." After tucking her in he told her the wish story again, she refused to hear any other, kissed her forehead and waved goodnight.

Once the door was shut he heard his mother walk in.

"Mom?" He found her in the living room with her shoes kicked off and a cold cloth on her head.

"Jack, did you get the groceries?"

"Yup."

"Is Emma in bed?"

"Yup."

She smiled at him and then shifted her weight when she saw the bruise on Jack's face, "Jack did you get into another fight?"

"If I had the school would have called you." He didn't want her to know what this fight had been about.

"Jack."

"It's nothing, I promise, and before you ask I'm heading out to eat, I'll be back in an hour."

"Jack there's food to eat here."

"I know, but North invited me to have dinner with him, I think he wants to lecture me on my life choices." His mother smiled at that. He almost felt guilty for lying about it.

"Call me when you get there, and-"

"And when I head back, got it."

Jack left without another word, and he had no intention of going to North, or to anyone he knew. He wasn't even hungry; he only wanted to wander the streets until he found something interesting to do. It's what he did whenever he wanted to avoid his thoughts and the last thing he wanted to do was thing about the fight he'd gotten into or how tired his mom looked or a million other things that made him angry.

After a good twenty minutes he realized he'd forgot to call his mom and he groaned so loud he thought the night itself would shush him.

"I could call her, but if she's asleep she wouldn't have noticed…but if she's waiting on me and if I don't call her…" He groaned again and leaned against the wall of an old building. It looked like it had once been a theatre; from the broken windows he could see red curtains and a wooden stage with holes in the center.

"I wonder…" He lifted his leg to step inside when he heard the sound of trashcans being turned over. He froze in place; if it was a mugger he'd get his cellphone stolen. On the off chance it was the police, it'd do him some good to hide in the theatre until the coast was clear.

He paused, but if was something else, something unexplainable, it was an opportunity for an adventure. Oddly enough, that was enough to compel Jack to follow the noise.

"And if it is the police, I swear I won't go out again for another month." He crawled out of the window and slowly walked to where the sound had come from.

"And if it's a mugger then please let them be a mugger with a knife instead of a gun." He pressed his body against a wall and looked over the corner. What he saw wasn't clear; it looked golden, maybe a dog with bright gold fur? It certainly moved like an animal…

Jack walked closer to the creature and waited for it to jump at him, when it didn't he stepped even closer and whistled at it. The creature pulled its head out of the trash and lifted its paw. It was definitely some sort of dog but it's features were wolf -ike and it's eyes were something else altogether. They looked bright green, no pupils and although it was dark, he swore there was a flower pattern on the wolf's fur. He'd never seen anything like it and under different circumstances; perhaps if the creature were to growl, he'd run. But he only stared and waited for it to do something.

The creature looked friendly enough, although strange. After a few moments of silence, it moved toward Jack, paw by paw, slowly at first and then in what Jack could only describe as a happy skip. When it was within inches of him it sniffed his pants and bowed its head.

"Hmm." Jack bent down to pet it and its tail wagged, he smiled. Despite the smell of garbage from the nearby trash, the creature was smelled like flower shop and he was almost sure it was smiling at him.

"This is strange, very strange, but cool." He had decided that peculiarity of it made the night suddenly interesting.

He sat on the ground and spent another ten minutes gently petting the creature, and only stopped when his cellphone rang.

"Dang it." The creature was so warm and kind, he could spend the rest of the night petting it but the caller ID made him want to run straight home, his mother was calling.

"Sorry, North had an emergency and then I found a dog and…no I wasn't going to take the dog home…yes I'll be back, yes…yes…I'm coming!" Jack sighed and jumped up.

"Sorry," He bit his lip, "But if I want to be alive to see morning I've got to get going." He gave the creature one last pat before he took off running.

The creature let out a small whine and tilted its head, it stared at Jack for a few seconds before jumping up to follow him.

When Jack got back home his mother had a lecture waiting for him and ordered him to take a shower because he smelled like "rotten fish," most likely from spent so much time near the garbage.

"And time for sleep." He stuck out his tongue and jumped into bed, it was then that he remembered he had yet to do his math homework.

"And then it was time for Calculus." He nearly spat out the last word.

With a pencil in hand and a calculator in the other he was ready for the hours of torture. He'd never been good at any of his subjects but he was used to making up things along the way and it earned him decent enough grades. That didn't bother him much, he never expected to go to college.

"Problem 1…looks like it was written in a foreign language." He started to write down the steps he'd learned in class, rolling his eyes along the way.

And then, suddenly, the torture was put on hold by the sound of whining outside his window.

"It can't be." He looked outside his window and some the same creature from earlier. He nearly fainted at the sight of it; it looked even stranger under the light of a streetlamp.

"Shh!" Jack hissed, and the creature was silent. He breathed a heavy sigh and rubbed his head, if his mother saw it she'd have the pound take it away.

That's when it started to scratch at the side of Jack's house.

"What's that noise?" Jack's mother called from her bedroom.

"Not sure, I'll go see!" Jack said quickly. He ran down the stairs and out the door where he pushed the creature under the shade of a tree.

"What!" That was all he could say. He'd had animals follow him home before but this, this was something he couldn't put a name to. Some wolf hybrid, most likely to be put down if found what with its sharp teeth, the only menacing thing about it.

"You need to go!" He said wearily.

But when he saw the sad expression in the creature's eyes he felt guilty for having gotten so angry.

"Okay…okay…just…follow me and stay quiet." He took a deep breath and led the creature into his home and up the stairs to his room. His mother stepped out of hers just in time to see Jack tip toe into the doorway and then shut the door.

"Jack, what are you up too?" In three steps Jack opened his closet door and shoved the creature inside, then jumped into his bed just as his mother came in.

"Jack, what was that noise?"

"The noise from earlier? Raccoons, I shooed them away."

In what felt like an eternity, his mother stared at Jack intently, then the window then back at him again.

"I see." While skeptical, his mother nodded and left the room, he could just made out her words before she shut the door, "Don't stay up too late!"

Jack took a deep breath before getting up from his bed and locking the door. After opening his closet door and gesturing for the creature to sleep on the blankets he'd laid out, he plopped onto the floor and sighed.

"Strange night."

The creature let out a small woof in agreement.

After completing 3 of his 5 math problems, Jack passed out on his desk and awoke to the feel of the sun against his bare back. He grumbled from the morning light and mumbled gibberish about wanting another hour to sleep.

"Jack!" Emma called from the hallway, "I'm going to make breakfast!"

That perked Jack right up, he knew she'd try to turn the stove on and that would only leave to another fire and another visit from firefighters.

"Hold on Emma, I'm going to make the eggs!" Jack yelled. He leapt from his with the intention of running out the door and down the stairs but tripped over his own hoodie he'd left on the floor.

"Dang it."

With a groan, Jack got up and grabbed the hoodie off the floor. For a moment, he debated taking another shower but decided against it having showered the night before and turned to open his dresser for a T-shirt.

That's when he saw her.

"Holy."

Sleeping on the blankets was a young girl, around his age, naked and only covered by the gold of her very long hair. Her eyes were sullen and her cheeks were pink, she looked exhausted.

"Holy." Jack said again before taking a seat on the floor, "What did I bring home."

With those words the girl finally woke up and propped herself up from the floor with her elbows. She rubbed her eyes with one hand and apologized for not waking earlier, she sounded disoriented and he wondered how long it would take her to realize where she was.

Jack only nodded but his face was terribly red.

"I didn't want to be an inconvenience," She said as if this was a normal occurrence, "But the kitten said you were kind and I was afraid to sleep outside again, what with them after me." Her green eyes were so big, so earnest that he only nod again.

She put her hand to her cheeks, "I'm so sorry, was this not okay? The kitten said you sometimes let her kind come home for a meal and a nap, I didn't mean to impose." Before Jack answered she jumped from where she sat, covered conveniently by her very long hair and scurried to the door.

The situation finally dawned her. She had followed him, a stranger home, and had failed to prepare him for her transformation…

"I'm so sorry! I should have known better, what was I thinking! I was just so tired! You probably have a million questions because girls don't turn into creatures or vice versa and…"

"Doesn't typically happen." He said quietly.

"Oh my goodness, you most be terrified, please don't call the police! I was so tired, I didn't realize I was doing and you were so nice and…and…I'll be on my way!" She took a mid-step when she realized she wasn't wearing any clothing.

"Eek!" She put her hands over herself and let out a quiet squeak, "Not again!"

With that Jack fainted where he sat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! I found out later that the story looked like a bunch of html coding! And it was hard to read :c Not sure why that happened, best guess is when I moved it from my tumblr post to here I had to delete the spaces and an error occurred. Hopefully this one is okay, let me know if it's not!**

**As always, sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes!**

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Jack wasn't sure how long he'd been out but when he came to, he felt a hand on his forehead; it was warm. He opened one eye and saw a face framed by golden hair, eyes as green as fresh grass, he thought she was a princess with how lovely she looked and mumbled a compliment.

When he opened the other eye, he saw the creature from the night before, the girl in front of him now, looked worried and afraid.

He got up and walked to the door, still frazzled by the realization. The girl had grabbed a blanket from the floor and wrapped it around her body, making him much more comfortable with what made him extremely uncomfortable.

"Stay…stay here." He said quietly.

She only nodded.

Jack walked out the door; his only thought was making sure his sister didn't burn the house down. He found her at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice, she'd also poured him some of each for him and patted the table space across from her.

"You took too long!" She said, genuinely annoyed.

"Ah, sorry." Jack wasn't very hungry, he was too nervous to think about eating, but he also knew if he didn't try Emma's feelings would be hurt.

Once he sat down the questions started, "What were you doing upstairs, I called your name but you didn't say anything."

"I fell back asleep." Jack said; it was more or less the truth. He wasn't about to tell her there was a naked girl in his room that startled him, let alone a naked girl who was basically a wolf last night.

"Did you have nightmares about the fight yesterday?" That made Jack jump, he touched his cheek where the bruise was and grumbled. He'd forgotten all about the fight and that made him want to skip school altogether. Given that he wasn't completely okay with leaving the girl in his room while he was away, and that he wanted answers, a free day was looking more and more appealing.

"No, I didn't."

"Do you want me to kick their butt?" Emma's tone was sincere.

Jack laughed, "No, they weren't picking on me and I can take care of myself you know."

"I know."

"Plus, I wouldn't want to unleash you on them, wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy Em." Emma lifted her arm and flexed the nonexistent muscles of her arm. Jack squinted and smiled.

"The bus is almost here!" She jumped from her sit and slipped her bowl and glass in the sink, "You know you missed your bus, right Jack?"

"Yeah, I know, I'll walk."

"You'll be late, take the skateboard!" She ran to the corner of the hallway and pushed the skateboard out to him, "Bye Jack!" Jack watched her step outside and run to the bus stop. He pushed his skateboard back to the corner and stood at the front door. After a minute or so the bus came and Emma waved goodbye as she hopped on.

"Wait your lunch!" Jack yelled; he mentally slapped himself for forgetting to pack her one.

"I made it myself!" She called from the bus window; she pulled a brown paper bag from her backpack and waved it as him as the bus drove off.

"She's getting good." Jack said with a proud expression. He'd been so used to caring for her he'd forgotten she was growing up.

When he shut the door behind him he remembered what was waiting for him upstairs and nearly fell to the floor.

"They're going to call my mom." Jack said, he knew the school would wonder if he was actually sick or just skipping. Contrary to his other antics, Jack rarely skipped an entire day of school, usually it was a class or two once every few months but whole days were reserved for concerts and the like. If he missed more than nine days a year he'd face suspension.

He started to count the days he'd missed, it was nearly summer, but if he wanted to stay out of the principle's office he couldn't risk a tenth day.

"Hmm, four, five…this will be day sixth." He sighed again and walked up the stairs.

When he opened the door he found her sitting on the floor of blankets with her knees pushed to her chin. An awkward silence followed. He didn't know what to say and she was too afraid to speak.

Jack put his hand on the back of his head and looked down, it was then that he realized he was still shirtless and his face flushed red. He walked quietly to the dresser and pulled out a Hoodie, slipped it over his body and then walked to the bed where he sat and continued to stare down.

It was silent for another five minutes; he thought of all the questions he could ask and all the answers she would give. He came to a conclusion there was no proper way of asking a were-wolf about their life given the unusual circumstances that led to him finding out what she was. And so, he took a deep breath and introduced himself.

"I'm Jack." He said softly.

"Hi Jack," She squeaked, "I'm Rapunzel."

"Doesn't that mean lettuce?" Jack bit down on his lip; his sarcastic nature was creeping out, "But I mean lettuce is delicious, we have it all the time." He cringed, it sounded like he wanted to cook her up and eat her for dinner.

"I think it also means never give-" She waved her hands, "I'm so sorry, I need to go!" She got up from where she sat and started to make her way to the door.

"Ah, wait!" Jack followed her, "Maybe going out in that," He pointed to her clothes," Isn't the best idea?"

Rapunzel looked down at her attire, the blanket she'd slept on from the night before, and sighed.

"I'm so sorry, this is all so much for you," She shut her eyes and shook her head. Her expression was a mix of frustration and embarrassment, "I hadn't slept in so long, it's never safe to sleep outside, not anymore."

Just nodded but he didn't understand, he gestured for her to take a sit on the bed and she complied. Jack turned his desk chair and sat with the back of the chair in front, he rested his hands on it and waited. When she didn't say anything he asked her why it wasn't safe.

"Well…you're completely human aren't you?" She asked.

Jack nodded again, "And you're…?"

She looked surprised by the question, "A girl."

"Right but also something else, you were a wolf…creature last night."

Her expression changed again, this time she almost laughed, "Right! I forgot! I'm a wolf too! But not a wolf like you'd think I'd be a wolf, another wolf."

Jack squinted and Rapunzel smiled.

She waited to speak again, this time to find the right words to describe what exactly she did and where she'd come from, and most importantly what she was.

"There's lots of wolves, some wolves are just wolves, animals completely. But then there are wolves that respond to the moon, and wolves that respond to the sun, and wolves and respond to the wind, and wolves that respond…it goes on and on."

He nodded slowly, "Which are you?"

"Well….for a long time I thought I was a sun wolf, I howl from sunlight where it's needed, that's my job, that's what my kind do! It was an easy job; it was fun! We'd chase the darkness away when it got too scary but…but I found out I'm not just a sun wolf, is this making sense?"

This time Jack laughed, "All of what you're saying would probably land you in a mental hospital, but having seen it myself, I gotta say I'm starting to follow, sort of."

"Right! Well, I found out I'm more than a sun-wolf."

"And you are?"

"It's all a bit too complicated to explain but the easiest way to say it is I have more powers than I realized…powers to defeat certain creatures, creatures that really want me dead."

At that Jack let out a low gasp, he hadn't realized someone had wanted her dead. If anything, he figured someone was trying to catch her.

"What creatures?"

"They're collectively called the Gothel, and they take the shape of women but they're evil, and they've been looking for me," She sighed and rubbed her eyelids. She was still so very tired and starving, garbage scraps for days had left her so weak, "Legend states they can only die by the wolf whose howl turns into a song."

"Is that you?"

She nodded and touched her throat; a moment later she began to sing. It was a wordless song full of notes both high and low. She smiled as she sang and the melody was so sweet and kind Jack nearly fell asleep by the lull of it.

When she'd finished Jack clapped and she blushed.

"So, what can I do to help you?"

At that she was startled, "Aren't you…aren't you afraid?"

Jack almost said, "Do you know me?" just to emphasize how much he wasn't afraid. Then he remembered they'd just met, "Why would I be?"

"Well, I'm a girl who is also a wolf and there is a terrifying creature with the ability to disguise itself, and it is that creature that is hunting me."

Jack swallowed hard and his eyes widened, "When you put it like that it's a little, well I see what you mean but I've always been the kind of guy who likes adventure, and this sounds like a good one."

Rapunzel shook her head, and touched his face. It took him back a bit but Rapunzel, unknown to Jack, had a tendency to touch when she wanted to be heard, "I don't know if you'd feel the same way living a life that required you to always be on the run." She didn't add anything after that and Jack didn't press despite the fact that he disagreed with her.

In fact, being a wolf like her sounded like an extremely interesting life to live. Rather than ask her about it he got up and walked to his mother's room.

"I'll find you something to wear," He called from the doorway.

Jack searched the back corner of his mother's closet for something she wouldn't miss. He found a series of dresses from her youth, all too small for his mother to wear.

"She must be saving these for Emma," He pulled them off the hangers one by one.

"These might be more comfortable than that," He pointed to the blanket, "And if you're hungry I can make you something." His own stomach growled, "Or us something, I'm pretty hungry."

She thanked him for his kindness and he nodded briskly, his face was becoming red again.

Rapunzel chose a pink dress to wear and had sat at the table unsure of how to hold the spoon Jack had offered her for the soup.

"You've never used one before?"

"I've tried but I prefer to eat with my hands," Her face became very red, "I know it's not lady-like, I was told to use the fork and the spoon by my mother, so that people wouldn't suspect what I was but I was so terrible at the lady business and I-" Jack interrupted her with a laugh.

"Punz, I don't care about that."

"Punz?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, I like it!"

Jack chuckled, "Okay, Punz it is."

After another failed attempt of the fork, Jack made Rapunzel a sandwich; she happily ate it. In between bites she explained all about her past from being born in Germany in an old castle in the mountains to her parents who were still there, waiting for her to return. She explained how she'd been taught how to be human and a wolf but she'd gravitated more to a hybrid of both worlds where she felt freest. She told him about her time in Spain and France, India and China, Switzerland and Belgium. It seemed she'd been everywhere and then some.

"And you ended up all the way over here, across an ocean, how?"

All Rapunzel had done was list her adventures across borders but crossing an ocean was a detail she'd neglected.

"Mermaids!" She said sweetly, "They're so lovely Jack, they helped me get across the water. My mother asked me to, she said the Gothel wouldn't follow over the water," She shook her head, "They found a way."

"So there's a whole bunch of mythical creatures out there?" Jack tapped his mouth, if mermaids and were-wolves were real, than surely ghosts and vampires were too.

"Oh yes! A whole world of fairies and centaurs, all sorts of creatures that the human world, the purely human world I should say, thinks are myths. That's the way we prefer it."

"Why?"

"Because there's many more humans than all of us combined, and humans, completely humans, are very scary when they're afraid of things and people they don't understand and can't explain."

Once they'd finished eating Jack showed Rapunzel around the house, she asked a million questions about the things she saw but what she was most interested in was Jack's story. He explained his life was ordinary, with school and homework, a mother and sister, and work.

"Where do you work?" She asked with her hands on her face, hanging on his every word.

"Mechanic shop, four days a week, that includes today…" He didn't want to miss work but the idea of leaving Rapunzel alone made him worried. He toyed with the idea of telling Emma the whole story, she was young but she was a good secret keeper and Rapunzel could dazzle her with all sorts of stories about fairies. The problem was, Emma wasn't very good at lying to their mother. If their mother asked her a direct question about Rapunzel, however small, Emma would give something away when stumbling over her words for a good lie.

"What do you learn in school?"

Jack groaned, "Math, English, Chemistry, all sorts of stuff, none of it is all that interesting."

She only asked more questions about his classes, his teachers and his books. She explained she'd been tutored at home. His world, school, work, was fascinating to her.

"And friends, do you have friends?" She was nearly jumping in place.

"Yeah, Sandy and Tooth. They're my best friends." He didn't sound very enthusiastic about it and when Rapunzel asked why he admitted both were older than him. As were North and Aster, the four being his older set of friends, the rest, like Jamie, were much younger like Emma.

"So you have no one your age?"

He shook his head, "But it's not bad, not really. Sandy's a pilot, he dresses strangely and lives on the second floor of a cool bookstore, he knows everything about everything. Tooth is studying to be a dentist and she moonlights as an accountant, she's got crazy colorful hair, I think you'd like it. North owns a toy shop, he's like a grandpa to me and Emma, Aster has a tattoo shop that doubles as a grocery store, he's strict but he has a good heart."

He was sure he was boring her but when he saw her face she couldn't have been her excited.

"Your friends sound amazing! Can I meet them?"

Jack nodded his head slowly. Naturally, Jack thought his friends were great but he didn't think his descriptions of them were anything to be excited about, then again Rapunzel seemed to get excited over a lot of things Jack found boring. However, he got an idea from it.

"Sandy, you can stay with Sandy! He won't ask too many questions and he's not too busy either. Is that okay with you?"

She couldn't nod fast enough.

"Good, that's what we'll do. We'll stop by Sandy's you can stay with him and then, we'll figure out what to do next."

"Like how to stop the Gothel!" Her voice was so perky Jack thought he'd be annoyed by it, normally he would be, but he found it rather endearing, that was until he realized the full weight of what she'd said.

"Wait, you don't know how to stop it? I thought you just sang to it?"

Rapunzel mimicked his squint, "No, if that were true I would have stopped it a long time ago, I have no idea how to keep it from killing me."

"Okay…okay, well Sandy's first then we'll…" He thought about Sandy's bookshelves. They had all sorts of stories from suspense, mystery, romance, action and many, many legends, "We'll see what he knows about the Gothel, I'm sure with everything he's read he's had to come across it."

"Sounds wonderful!" She jumped from where she sat and ran to the door. Jack was about to comment about her bare feet but decided against it.

He wished he'd taken off his own shoes and mentioned it in a whisper when they stepped out the door.

"Do it!" She said cheerfully.

"I can't, I'd…"

"Why, what are you afraid of?" She pointed her finger gently at him, "You seemed to be that type of person who doesn't get scared."

He laughed at that. He was going to tell her people would stare but odds were they were going to stare at them anyway, mainly because Rapunzel's hair was a major distraction. He was use to being invisible, but there was a part of him that wanted to run barefoot again. When he was younger he never wore shoes and was often found sprinting through the streets without shoes on. He didn't know when he stopped or why, but somewhere along the way he started to feel self-conscious and that felt terribly uncharacteristic of him.

"Okay, screw it." He slipped off his shoes and the two walked together to the bookstore, with Rapunzel giddy and chirping like a songbird and Jack laughing all along the way. Neither realized the Gothel in the shadows, listening to every word.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hmm...I had to push through this chapter, sort of lost all inspiration...**

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The smell of the principle's office was old and nauseating. There was a musty smell that came from old textbooks piled near the window, and a heavy smell of men's colon across the desk. The chair Jack sat in squeaked when he moved and the fabric was torn on the arms from overuse. Jack wondered how many times he'd sat here, how many more times he'd sit here.

His mother had told him he wasn't a kid anymore, he couldn't risk so many office visits for less than civil activities with college looming over him. He cared, he really did, but somehow is compulsion for disorder got the best of him, that and his need to put jerks in their place with what he hoped was cunning, although usually it was out of stupidity.

These days, he didn't get caught, but now and then he'd make a mistake and here he'd be, in the office. There was no definitive proof he'd gotten the animals in, but there was a enough speculation and enough of his past to say it was probably him.

"Jack," The principal said with a heavy baritone voice that reminded him of TV announcers, "Is there anything you'd like me to know before I start asking questions?"

It was a chance to confess, Jack wasn't going to bite. Yes, he did it. He lured the cows in along with the birds into the school, the goal was to wreak havoc but the mission itself was bigger than that. Today was the day a bunch of the older boys had planned on ditching school to launch a series of attacks at the middle and elementary schools. A lot of it was petty stuff but unlike Jack they had no sense of what a prank should be, too many times they'd hurt the younger kids, made them cry with their antics, Jack wasn't having it any longer. When Jamie told him he didn't want to go to school after having his head dunked in the toilet by one of these guys, for the tenth time, Jack had had enough.

So, he used his skills to bring in the animals, not that it was hard, he'd spent his summers on a farm. He knew what he was doing. He got the animals into the school, it stopped the plans he'd intended to stop. And with the time he had he took out the supplies and planted lots of evidence. It was meticulous work and he wouldn't had the patience for it if it weren't for his friends abroad, Merida in Scotland who was the devious mind, and Hiccup in Scandinavia with all his detailed maps. They jumped at the chance to help him and that was the one thing about the whole situation that made him feel guilty.

He hadn't spoken to them in so long, he almost forgot they were his

friends at all.

In a way, he felt like they weren't, they lived so far away after all, he'd stumbled upon them both online via a game and he'd neglected them for a while with what Rapunzel had dubbed his "brood." He told her he didn't brood, he was too fun for anything associated with worry. She only sighed.

That got him thinking about her. It had been two weeks since he'd met her, she lived in a cove in Sandy's library and when the day was done, he'd go visit her. There were still no signs the Gothel, part of him wondered if it was all made up, that is until he'd see her roaming about at night in her wolf form. Then he'd remember how they'd actually met and his heart would beat faster for the sheer impossibility of it all. A wolf girl with a monster after her, it was insanity.

"Jack, are you listening?"

He resisted a smirk and nodded. Getting in trouble for a prank seemed awfully trivial when there were monsters and wolf people out there.

One hour of an interrogation that would be the equivalent to pulling teeth, and Jack was let go but not before he got a severe warning. It was what he usually heard, he had pretty good grades, mostly As with a C or B once in awhile but grades didn't mean much. They wanted him to join sports and clubs, to have a job. At this rate, 16 and a junior, his chances of college were slim. And yet he often found himself wondering why he should bother. He saw college students working at shops, and the college educated serving meals doing nothing with their degree. They always said they were paying their dues, but into there 30s, 40s and it just seemed even more pointless.

"That's the problem," Rapunzel told him with a hand on his shoulder, "You're looking for meaning."

Jack shrugged his shoulders; he wasn't interested in have a philosophical discussion. At the moment he was just grateful the principal didn't call his mom. The last thing she needed was a phone call from the office.

"The only meaning I need is a thrill and a good laugh." He tried to smile but she put a finger on each end of his mouth.

"You really like kids," Rapunzel was smiling at him. He pulled his hoodie over his face to hid the blush.

"They don't worry so much about the future." He said quietly. They were both waiting for Sandy. When Jack showed up with Rapunzel Sandy didn't even bat an eye, he only nudge Jack in a knowing way that prompted Jack to roll his eyes. Then he went through his books, there wasn't a thing on the Gothel but he was sure she, or it, was real and he promised to go through his archives for the story. Today was suppose to be the day they found out more, and so they waited on the floor of the store while others gathered around to shop for books.

"You said you helped with your sister's little league? And you tutored Jamie and a few other kids. Maybe working with kids as a...as a daily thing would make you happy." Rapunzel ran her fingers through her hair.

Jack shrugged again, "It's easier to talk to kids." He expected her to shake her head but she nodded instead.

"I like talking to the ones that come in, they're so sweet." She smiled and waved to a few girls in the corner. Their hair was braided with flowers, no doubt Rapunzel's work.

"And I love being here, Sandy doesn't talk but he has so much to say about life, he's kind too." Rapunzel leaned against the bookshelf as if she wanted to be a permanent part of it, "I wish there was no Gothel, I wish I could stay…" Then as if recalling a series of memories, she frowned.

"What is it?" Jack asked softly.

"I miss my family." She said it like a lullaby and let the last world roll of her tongue in a somber melody. It reminded Jack she could sing. It made sense to him such a voice would defeat a monster, if anything because it sounded so pure and angelic while a monster like Gothel was in essence corrupt and evil.

He reached out to put a hand over hers and stopped when he remembered he still hardly knew her. She took his hand instead, his blush got darker, she was much more affectionate than he was, he shouldn't have been surprised. And then, Sandy appeared.

He gestured for them to follow him to the side room where his study was.

In a series of gestures, Sandy explained what he'd found, he pointed to an old book with a black cover and creases of flowers embedded on the pages. Jack opened it to a bookmark where a bunch of gibberish was written, or what Jack thought was gibberish.

"I know this!" Rapunzel jumped and reached out to it, "This is the language of wolves,"

Jack raised an eyebrow, the pages looked like squiggly lines and shapes he wasn't sure had actually names.

"How did you find this?" She asked Sandy. Sandy smiled and pointed to the door where Toothiana had appeared.

"He had some help." She said with a gleeful grin, her teeth were so bright and her brown skin glowed in the light. Rapunzel was in awe, even though she'd seen her several times before, "Some of my mother's old books passed down. My ancestors were nomads, they collected all sorts of things in their travels, although they weren't much for record keeping." Tooth shook her head, she was terribly organized and the very thought of one thing out of order made her cringe.

"I would have brought it sooner but the whole place was a mess," She wagged her finger like a professor, "I had to set up a whole new system, tedious but absolutely worth it!"

Rapunzel clapped her hands and gave Tooth a big hug, "Thank you so much!"

It was the last sound Jack heard from her for the next two hours, unusual for her but understandable given she was trying to read over 500 pages as fast as she possibly could. Tooth waved goodbye after the first ten minutes, she had a schedule to keep, and Sandy soon grew bored and made his way to the bookshelves where he entertained a group of children with shadow puppets. Jack sat down and waited.

It was odd for him, to sit and wait in silence, never had he been so quiet, even when he slept he was sure he fidgeted and rolled all throughout the night. If Emma hadn't been sleeping over at a friend's tonight he would have left. Then he asked himself why he hadn't left, there was no reason for him to stay. After all, Rapunzel wasn't his responsibility, she didn't need him, she hadn't asked him to stay and yet there he was at her side like a loyal steed. He grunted, annoyed with himself, but he did not move.

She'd almost reached the 200th page when she promptly shut the book and looked over her shoulder where Jack had his eyes shut and his arms crossed.

"Jack?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you have time for a walk?"

Jack opened one eye, for a moment he wondered if she meant in her wolf form and that amused him.

"I thought you could use the lady's room just fine." He grinned at his joke.

"You couldn't resist." She said simply, then she stood and held out her hand to him, "Will you take a walk with me?"

He hesitated.

"You don't have to," She started to say but Jack shook his head.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." He took her hand and the two walked out. They walked along the sidewalk without a word and past the bakery where the smell of fresh pastries filled the air. They walked past the playgrounds where children swung and slid. They walked past gardens of flowers that smelled just like Rapunzel, or so Jack thought.

It confused him, in the few weeks he'd known her, they'd always stopped to get a scone, to rid a swing, to smell the flowers. It was her choice, but Jack always stayed with her.

"Where are we going?" He finally asked, he suddenly became aware his hand was still in hers.

"I didn't have a place in mind," She sounded very far away. He pulled her hand back to turn her. He wanted to see her face, her eyes and understand what she was thinking, if something in the book had revealed a horrible secret; if she was saying goodbye.

She bit her lip, "This was meant to be relaxing."

"What?"

"You looked so tired, and you were frustrated early. I didn't want you to wait all day for me." She inhaled deeply, "And it smells so nice outside." She smiled, one of her millions of smiles and Jack breathed a sigh of relief, he'd overreacted. That made him laugh.

"I'm fine, but you looked…not like yourself."

"You would know," and the faraway voice came back. Jack clung to her arm trying to bring her back.

"What's going on?"

She laughed, "I just feel guilty."

"For?"

She let go of him and sat on the edge of the sidewalk, she didn't have to ask, he was already next to her.

"For being away from my family, for having to run away from the Gothel, for wanting to stay here…for wasting so much of your time."

Jack laughed at that, "I waste my own time, might as well be with someone I like." He looked away afraid she take the last bit of what he said the wrong way. She didn't press.

"I think it's best if I leave." She tried to sound firm but there was a crack in her voice when she said "best."

Jack felt a punch to his gut and nearly tipped back from the sudden blow, "Why?"

She took a deep breath and then exhaled,"I shouldn't be in one place for so long, two weeks…the Gothel is bound to catch up."

"But what about safety?" Jack thought he sounded ridiculous, he was the last person who should lecture about safety, just last month he'd jumped from a rooftop in the hopes of making it to the other several feet away. He didn't make it.

"Well, I think the Gothel's been keeping away because I'm around people but…" She opened the book to where she left off and pointed to words Jack couldn't even begin to understand, "It says the longer the Gothel is kept from a kill, the more aggravated it becomes, and the more aggravated, the more prone it is to be reckless and even expose itself to humans."

Jack was tempted to throw the book away, "Running off on your own isn't a good idea Punz, it's safer with m-us. Sandy and Tooth, North loves having dinner with you and-"

Rapunzel put two fingers on his lips and he felt his lungs shut down almost instantly, "You're rambling."

"You'd know." He said, he gently took her fingers off his lips.

"I would!" And then she kissed him on the cheek. He would have liked it if he wasn't sure she was saying goodbye.

He expected her to give a long drawn explanation about it but she didn't, and he realized he was wrong to think she would. A few days and dozens of talks did not mean she owed him explanations, it didn't mean she had to listen to him, or like him, or miss him. He understood that, he understood that even as he got up and started to walk toward her, he understand that even when he asked her to stay.

"Jack,"

"You can't just go, with what the clothes on your back and that book?" He wondered how she planned to carry it in her wolf form.

"Jack, this…this was only temporary." Her voice got higher and quieter and he knew he was making her anxious. He stepped back and tried to search his mind for the right words. She was right, somewhat. Staying in the same place was dangerous, but moving wasn't that much better.

"You wanted answers to defeat the Gothel, if you leave…how is that defeating anything?"

He thought he had her at that, by the look in her eyes he guessed she hadn't thought of that, but then, suddenly, she looked directly at him and shook her head.

"I will defeat the Gothel, but I won't do it here, I need to get her out...lure her…like you did with the cows and birds." She giggled and Jack put his hand over his face to hide the grin. He didn't want to laugh right now.

"At least stay one more night to think things through."

"You're asking someone to think things through?" She stood on her toes and twirled as if Jack attempting to be practical was the funniest thing in the world.

"Drastic times call for drastic measures." He said with a laugh.

She stopped twirling and nodded, he wasn't sure how he'd convinced her, "Okay, one night, to get things ready." She looked at the book, "To finish reading."

"That's all I ask."

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**The next chapter will be in her POV, just a heads up.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Rapunzel's POV, I like this chapter best. With Jack's chapters I try to sound lighter but...this is more my forte. Apologizing for spelling/grammar mistakes!**

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She'd said she'd stay another night; it was something of a promise, a promise she intended to keep. With her knees under her chin and her eyes shut she nestled into the makeshift bed of pillows and blankets.

Sandy insisted she wasn't a bother but she still felt like a burden, it's why she'd cleaned his shop from top to bottom day after day. It didn't take long, Sandy wasn't a messy person, and so she'd spend the rest of the day searching the books. She couldn't read English, though she spoke it well enough. With all the languages inside her head speaking them was a feat on its own. When she'd riffled through each section several times over she'd watched the customers fill in, each with a different emotion, a different story and in search of something they hoped was in a book. She'd talked to children, they were kind, then she'd wait for Jack.

She liked him, a lot, and it frightened her. She was not human, not fully, she was so far from home, there would be no future, it was silly to think of what it might be like to stay. This was not her home, in a way, she'd always believed her home could never be stationary, although her mother played a role in that, she'd sing her lullabies about homes at the tops of trees or at the bottom of the oceans, how could so many places be home? Rapunzel had thought it was because each person has a different home, but that wasn't it. Home, Rapunzel thought, was a feeling that was attained followed you around, but it was so easy to lose.

Everything that surrounded her, down to the clothes she wore, were someone else's, nothing was familiar. The Gothel was coming for her, it was only a matter of time before it lost all sense and chose to attack with the others around. It wasn't sensible to stay, her muscles twitched within her and her joints ached. She could feel a howl in her throat and shook momentarily from the inexplicable desire to scream until the windows shattered. A human couldn't howl, not really. Jack had pretended to the other day, he mimicked a woof but the intonation was all wrong and the emotion…the emotion of a howl was not there. Humans, as far as Rapunzel was concerned couldn't howl, not truly, only scream.

She swallowed; the books, the children, Jack…it was comfortable, but it wasn't a life she could really live, if not for the Gothel that put everyone in danger, it was the clear sense of adventure buried in her bones and blood. She needed release; she needed freedom.

"I'm so selfish," She said quietly. All she wanted was silence, peace and when she'd grasped it she'd gone and changed her mind. What was it that she really desired? Freedom or settlement?

She got up from her bed, it was well past midnight, her promise bounded her to this place until sunrise. Would she really leave without saying goodbye? She opened the window and jumped out. Her eyes had already begun to glow and her golden hair stuck to her as though it was a second skin. She ran.

It wasn't until she'd reached the trees that she allowed herself to truly transform, it felt like fire, as it always had, and then her senses shifted. She was a wolf again with her clothes at her feet.

It was dangerous, out alone at night. If someone saw her, they'd call the police, that's what Jack had said. And of course, the Gothel always lurked. She stared out into the forest, the trees smelled so welcoming, the bark echoed all her emotions and the grass beneath her intensified her senses. The cooling air of the night made her want to run for miles, she'd done it before. But the promise she'd made gripped her tightly, she couldn't leave, she wouldn't even considerate, but to feel like herself, to know the earth this way made her happy.

She walked back to the edge of the forest, her howl was meant to end the Gothel's life and yet she was afraid that she couldn't rise to the occasion, that upon facing the Gothel her voice would leave her. She was nearing the end of her book and the answers she sought were vaguely written. A wolf whose howl could turn to song was that of legends, for every rumor there was the Gothel at the wolf's side, and the Gothel would murder the wolf, as a child. It made Rapunzel shiver, the Gothel sucked the life of everything it touched and many creatures, with the exception of humans, lived in fear of it. Humans…she'd learned the Gothel could not take life from a human, not a true human unlike Rapunzel who was still very much a wolf. No, humans like Jack could only feel pain and suffering upon the Gothel's touch but she could not take their lives.

The mystery behind the Gothel was much more complicated than she thought, and a story that started thousands of years before she was born. She wanted to tell Jack what the Gothel was, why humans were the exception but most of all, she wanted to tell him that she still did not know the riddle behind her voice. If she sang would it kill the Gothel? She certainly could not sing as a wolf. With the paws in the dirt, she doubted herself, that wasn't what she wanted to tell Jack, in part yes, she did want him to know, but there were other things, feelings that made her confused…

Her fear grew as she looked up at the stars; it had been less than an hour since she'd ran out and it was a blessing no one had seen her. She had to go back; she called forth her human form and felt her body change, her paws had become hands again. Seconds later, she was a human girl, naked in the middle of the night. She cursed herself, this was wrong, how would she get back without anyone seeing?

In the midst of her thought she heard it, the growl that wasn't a growl, a whisper that wasn't so soft, the thump of a creature that did not walk but rather floated. The Gothel was upon her.

She started to run, at first she had no direction, it was only straight then turns at a whim. Then she realized she needed a place to hide, there were only two places, Sandy's or Jack's. Jack was the face she wanted to see, but she'd left the book behind.

Rapunzel shut her eyes and called forth the sleeping sun, in theory she could only change once a night, she'd already wasted her shift earlier, but her human legs were not nearly as fast as her wolf form and so she pleaded. She begged the sun to grant her the form but the sun fell silent, she drew power from it but she was not in control.

Seconds turned into minutes and she felt colder, as though the Gothel had misty fingertips that traced the back of her neck. Rapunzel tried not to scream; she swallowed hard and prayed the sun would allow her this exception.

And then she saw Sandy's bookstore, the lights were out, she imagined him asleep upstairs, deep in a dream. She couldn't bear to break her promise, but at the very least, if she had to run, she had to take the book with her.

With all her strength, she stretched her muscles and leaped forward like a wolf. She ran behind the building and into the opened window. She jumped, shut it tightly and reached for clothes to wear. It was nearly four in the morning. She needed to wake Jack, she needed to tell him of what she'd learned and what she'd done. The Gothel was growing desperate. But what would he make of the information? Why bother to tell him at all? She realized then he was her confidant, her friend, and…she wanted to say goodbye in a way that made him understand why she couldn't stay.

She wrapped a blanket around herself and tried to sleep but she knew the Gothel could pass through walls, although she'd read it was painful for it to do so. From her readings, the Gothel always felt pain when it used its powers, except for when it killed, only then did it feel any joy at all.

To pass through walls or objects brought with it agony, she prayed that fact would keep it at bay, at least until she saw Jack.

She shut her eyes and huddled into the corner with the book against her chest. She did not sleep.

...

Sandy offered her food but she could not eat, Tooth stopped by to talk to her but Rapunzel could only speak fragments. She tried to explain the Gothel had nearly claimed her but it came out in whispers and stuttered words. Tooth understood, to some degree, what the Gothel was despite the fact that Rapunzel had not explained it herself.

"I've heard stories," Tooth said, "From my grandmother, and others…when you travel there's always some sort of story about a monster."

Rapunzel only nodded. It didn't occur to her that she hadn't fully explained what she was, who she was, or what was after her. She stared at Tooth, a woman who was always so anxious, always counting something off in her head, was strangely calm about a monster. Rapunzel wondered if Tooth had some sort of mystic ability, she didn't ask.

"I have to go," Rapunzel told her and Sandy, "If I stay…someone after me will hurt me…I felt it last night."

"We can protect you," Tooth told her. She knew more about life than she let on. She'd never told Jack what she and Sandy did in their spare time, they both studied things that humanity had long called foolish. Yes, Tooth was a graduate student, she was practical enough, but she also had seen creatures that humanity called myth.

"It's okay Rapunzel, you can ask." Tooth told her with a kind smile, even now Tooth had a pen and paper, she scribbled down numbers and words for her paperwork and listed tasks that had yet to be done. Sandy sat in silence; he looked from Rapunzel to Tooth.

"Are you hunters?" Rapunzel asked quietly.

"Not quite, but we can use that word." Tooth mouthed out a series of sentences, gibberish to Rapunzel, it was all more work that Tooth had to organize in her head.

"Jack doesn't know." Rapunzel said softly.

Sandy shook his head.

"We thought he'd become like us," Tooth told her, "And North and Aster, the four of us are a team but there's a lot of us out there. Sandy studies more than I do," At that Sandy rolled his eyes, Tooth giggled, "Well, he knows more, reads more, I'm still learning, I'm going to be like Aster, I'm going to be one of the travelers and spend time with the creatures." She smiled to herself, "My favorite are the fairies…"

"You're not going to be a dentist?" Rapunzel thought this was the most peculiar thing in the whole situation, Tooth had said more than once she wanted to be one. Why bother with a façade?

At that Tooth laughed, she laughed so hard she held her stomach and for a moment all the thoughts in head were drowned out by her laughter.

"Oh I am going to be a dentist! I love dentistry, although I'd say my fascination comes more from old folktales about memories and…" Tooth had rambled off; she'd spoken too quickly. "That's another story. We need to focus on helping you."

"You can't." Rapunzel shook her head, "I read it in the book you gave me, the Gothel always makes its kill."

"Thank goodness!" Tooth said, and then she realized she'd misspoken, "Not about that, that's not good, but I'm happy someone could read that book! I remember my grandmother telling me all about it when I was younger, Sandy had said Gothel and that was the only thing…" Tooth chuckled, "I'm getting off track, which is something I don't usually do, I'm usually so very on point but I have this thesis…" She paused and touched her forehead.

"Tooth?"

"Sorry about that, Sandy said I've got a case of a heavy head, that is to say my mind processes faster than it should, a mark of a person like me, a 'hunter' as you said but it makes human conversation difficult sometimes, especially when everything is so crowded."

"That's okay, I go off on tangents too!"

Tooth smiled at her, "What I mean to say is, I'm glad you could read the book, tell us, what did you learn?"

Rapunzel explained chapter after chapter, her voice grew hoarse and Sandy kept refilling cups of water for her to drink. She explained all about the Gothel's powers, its limitations, her confusion of how to defeat it, and the history of how it came to be.

"It was a woman?" Tooth said exasperated, "Human?"

Rapunzel nodded, "A very evil woman who wanted to be immortal, she spent her lifetime searching for magic that would let her live."

"How long ago?"

"Thousands and thousands of years, she found her immortality in the darkness," Rapunzel put the book on the table and flipped through the pages, "This book was written by the sorceress that was able to save humans from the Gothel's powers."

"Save them?"

"Yes, the Gothel got its powers when the woman fused with a several other creatures. Together their lives formed one and were held together by dark thoughts. When the Gothel kills, it collects the bad thoughts to keep it alive."

Sandy let out a quiet gasp and Tooth set down her pencil, she closed her eyes for a moment to clear her mind, she needed to remember this.

"And the sorceress?"

"A human who learned how to control magic. She wanted to defeat the Gothel, she tried to write out a spell that would but she used her blood, if she wanted to protect everyone she needed a drop of every creatures blood. She realized that too late."

"So the spell only protected humans."

Rapunzel nodded.

"Go on," Tooth said gently.

"The Gothel can't take a life of a human, but it can make them suffer, it can destroy things around it. You're all still in danger."

Sandy gestured in a manner that Rapunzel did not understand but Tooth nodded in response.

"And why is the Gothel after you?"

"Because I can defeat it…I just don't know how."

...

Rapunzel sat on the stoop of Sandy's shop; Jack was coming to see her, one last time. Tooth had told her not to tell, even if she believed Jack was one of "them" he hadn't shown much sign of it and they were bound to secrecy. In that regard, Rapunzel felt she owed her. On top of their kindness, Sandy and Tooth had agreed to get her out of town; Tooth would take her to the fairies who'd watch over her while they, Tooth and her team, would figure out how a wolf's howl could turn into song.

"Maybe I'm overthinking things?" She'd asked them.

"Well I think a lot," Tooth told her, "Probably more than I should, but I'd rather not leave it up to the last second to figure this out." After that Tooth got to work. She mumbled to herself and took down notes, she rarely stood in one place for more than a few seconds before she'd move to another part of the room and then out the door. She was a very busy woman, Rapunzel thought, so full of energy and yet so very careful in her movements.

"Sandy?" He had a cup of tea and scone on a plate, unlike Tooth; he was very still but had a manner about him that reminded her of clouds, weightless and kind in the sky. She wondered how one could tell if they were like Tooth, someone who knew about creatures and whose destiny, as Tooth had explained, was to help them. Tooth had a heavy mind, Rapunzel wondered if Sandy's sign was his muteness.

He looked at her thoughtfully.

"What are the chances I would come here of all places, with people as nice as you?"

Sandy smiled at her and pointed to a map behind her, there were small dots on various states across the country and into other countries all over the world. He got up and pointed to a dot and gestured to himself than he threw out his hands as if to say "everywhere."

"There's a lot of people like you?"

He nodded.

"I wonder than if I was drawn here…."

Sandy smiled and nodded; he made a face at her that was so characteristically Jack she laughed.

"Are you trying to tell me about Jack?"

Sandy nodded and pointed to her.

"You think I was drawn to this place because of him?" She blushed. Sandy later handed her a plate of cookies, the last of which she ate on the stoop while she waited. If Tooth had a heavy mind and Sandy was mute, what was Jack's mark? What about Aster and North? She'd met them both and wondered what was peculiar about them…Aster had blue tattoos on his arms, when Rapunzel asked he said he was born with them. That could very well be his mark, but what of North?

He was a jolly fellow with red cheeks and a fully belly. His hair was white from age; he too had tattoos, all of which had a story from when he'd gotten them done. She shut her eyes and tried to remember every detail of him, she was always good with details, Jack had said she'd make a good artist if she'd ever bothered to pick up a paintbrush. And then Rapunzel remembered, North had a twinkle in his eye. It wasn't merely a twinkle like a gloss in just around his pupils, it was a true twinkle that made her think of magic. Perhaps, she thought, that was North's mark. That only left Jack.

Jack.

What was it about him that made her believe he had the markings of a "hunter" as Rapunzel referred to it, although the more she learned about their actions, the more she felt hunter was the wrong word. If anything, they were helpers that searched and learned.

"Rapunzel!" She heard his voice and jumped, it was a good kind of jump, like she was ready to roll down a hill with the sun on her face. She didn't bother to be cordial, she ran to him and grabbed him in a tight hug, she missed his smell.

"Hey," He whispered, she felt his breath on the back of her neck and blushed. She wanted to tell him everything but she had a promise to keep, another promise that is.

"How about a walk?" He said and she laughed. She took his hand and let him lead her; they walked to the playground where the swings were. It was nearly dinnertime and she asked him why he'd waited so long to see her, if his mother would be upset because of the time. He told her he had some trouble in school but didn't elaborate; he only flashed a cheeky grin to suggest he'd gotten himself into trouble.

"But won't your mom worry?"

"Emma covered for me, just before she left for piano practice she told my mom I was out with a lady friend."

"Lady friend?"

"Her way of saying girlfriend, she watches too much TV."

Rapunzel giggled, she wasn't sure how that was a "cover" given that Rapunzel was a lady and a friend.

With their feet in the air, they swung higher and higher, she knew she'd have to go back to Sandy's, Tooth said Aster would come for her and the three of them would travel to the fairies in the night.

She tried to explain how dangerous Gothel was, how Tooth would need to arm herself as would Aster, a burly fellow but just as kind to her as they'd all been. She didn't want to see them hurt. Tooth smiled sweetly at her and promised they would be fine, at least for the travel.

"Punz?" Jack said.

"Hmm?"

Jack chuckled, he'd spent the past few minutes talking about desserts and he doubted she'd heard a word of it.

"What's your favorite?" He asked it as though it were a challenge.

"All of them," While her thoughts were elsewhere she'd heard him, he wanted to know what was her favorite pastry and it was true, she loved them all, "Powered and chocolate and fruity and…they're all amazing Jack, I'd eat them all day."

"That would be unhealthy."

"You sound like a parent."

Jack laughed, "I wouldn't make a good parent, I'd eat all the dessert first and my kid would be left with nothing." He grinned.

"No," She said earnestly, "you'd share, you wouldn't admit that now, but seeing others happy would make you happy, you'd give it all away."

"You think so?" He forced himself to be sarcastic; he wasn't sure if he should feel afraid or happy that she knew him better than he knew himself.

"I do," Then she kicked her legs out and went so high she touched a tree branch, "And I would be a wolf so that my stomach would be bigger and I could eat more!" She laughed with the sun setting behind her, they'd have to get back soon, but here, she felt free. Why was this freedom easier? She felt no guilt on the swing as she had when she felt the howl in her throat and ran off to the forest, if only briefly.

When her body came back down, she saw Jack's face; he looked at her as though she was everything and the stars. She shut her eyes and let go of the chains. Her arms slipped out behind them and she let herself fall when she'd reached her highest point in the air. Jack called out to her, she thought it was odd that someone like Jack, who made a point to be reckless, was afraid she'd fall to her death.

He'd already jumped from his own swing in the hopes of catching her. She landed neatly on her hands and flipped to her feet.

"That was…"

"Not a good decision?" she said as she ducked just in time before the swing smacked her torso. She walked to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "I know, but I'm graceful."

Jack gave her a look of confusion and admiration, rather than say something that would confirm either, he asked her a question.

It had been on his mind for some time, "If you had one wish, what would it be?"

Rapunzel took his hand again and they walked to the grass, there they sat with the purple and orange of the sky as their backdrop.

"I want to say it'd be that the Gothel didn't exist, or that I'd know how to turn a howl into a song."

Jack shook his head, "Forget Gothel, what's something you want?"

She thought about it, she'd like books to read, pastries to eat, the chance to roll in the sun everyday, to see her family. She told him all of this but none of them seemed to satisfy him. And then she realized he was looking for a certain answer, so she asked him what that was.

"I don't know," He told her truthfully, "I think…I think I'm just wondering, someone like you that's been everywhere, that's seen things that…I'm just wondering what more could a person want?"

Rapunzel chuckled and repeated her list, this time she added warm blankets but Jack didn't laugh, he smiled but there was no indication he'd understood the joke. That made her frown, Jack loved to laugh.

"Jack," She said slowly, "What would you wish for?"

That caught him by surprise, but it shouldn't have.

"To live like you do, free." It was the most serious, honest sentence he'd ever spoken.

Rapunzel was surprised, had Jack not thought of the danger she lived with? She was angry with him, did he not realize how alone she was? And then it struck her; perhaps Jack was alone too.

Yes, she could go where she wanted but not without fear, not without consequences, and yes she'd had many adventures but until now she'd had no one to share them with. So what was it about Jack that made him feel this way, she thought back to yesterday's conversation. He'd been looking for purpose.

"Jack, how would you describe your life?"

He sighed, "Mundane, mediocre, ordinary."

"With friends like Tooth and Sandy, North and Aster?"

"Well-"

"And Jamie and Emma, your mother, me?"

Jack raised his hands, "I didn't mean it like that…I…" He wasn't sure if he'd offended her. The way she'd phrased her words made him think he'd hurt her but her tone was sympatric.

Rapunzel thought of the fairies, of Tooth and Sandy. She'd have to leave Jack but where was she going, she couldn't stay with the fairies forever.

"Jack, I know you want to have adventures, I understand that, truly. I can't stay in place, I can't settle…"

"I get the feeling." He told her quietly. Had it been another day, he'd tell her to take him to have an adventure or vice versa, but today he felt something was wrong, that she was going to tell him something he didn't want to hear.

"Jack,"

"You're leaving, right, that's what you wanted to tell me."

She tried to keep calm, Jack already looked upset. He wouldn't stop her, she knew that much from the tone of his voice. He'd already decided to let her go if that's what she wanted, and that reminded her of his question.

"I'd wish for permanence."

He didn't understand; his mind was jumbled but her was certain that he wanted to reach for her in a way that was much gentler than he thought himself capable of. He forced himself to keep his hands at his side.

"Jack, don't see? Adventure has a price."

He wanted to tell her he'd pay it, but he didn't. Adventure had nothing to do with the sadness he felt; if she left the chances of him seeing her again were next to none.

"I didn't choose it either."

That sparked something within him, something that made him want to speak loudly and harshly, not at her, but at himself, and so he shouted, "If you had the choice, would you choose this life?" He gestured to himself and then he bit back the words. He meant to say he hated his life, that he wanted to be free but he realized too late he'd made it seem that he was asking her if she'd choose him.

"I didn't mean…I didn't mean me, I was talking to myself."

"I can answer both," She got up and rolled her shoulders back. Jack apologized for shouting, the remorse so clear and raw. She put a hand to his cheek.

"If I had to choose between staying home and having an adventure, I'd choose the latter, but that's the thing Jack, I'm selfish and I don't want to choose,"

He opened his mouth and tried to tell her she wasn't selfish, she was entirely selfless but she hushed him and looked straight into his eyes, "I'd want home to come with me."

Jack forced himself to look at her, he felt sick, as though he were about to vomit, and yet, simultaneously, he wanted to hug. He was too close to her, he realized that's what made him feel so ill, the fact that he'd allowed himself to care for her when he didn't know her. She'd stumbled into his life, not even human and he was sure now he'd accidentally developed feelings for her. That hurt him, it hurt him because deep down he knew she could never stay and he could never go with her.

"You don't have to explain yourself Punz," He made his tone light and pulled away from her touch. "This is a monster we're talking about, and you're the one who can stop it. I shouldn't have asked you to stay." He laughed; it was a forced laugh that was on the brink of self-deprecation.

She grabbed his arms with so much force he nearly fell forward.

"Let me finish,"

"But-"

"Shh, listen."

He waited for her to continue, waited until he heard the crickets chirp and felt the sun set. She was nervous, it made him want to crack a joke but he pressed his lips together and waited for her to tell him whatever it was that made her so anxious.

"Home can come with you, I think, if home is a person. My mother mentioned it once when I was little, and I didn't understand then. She wasn't from Germany Jack, she was another land and moved to be with my father and when I asked her if she ever missed home…I think I realized it when I was alone and running from the Gothel."

"What does that mean?" Jack stared at her, oblivious.

"Your other question, the one you didn't mean to ask," Rapunzel couldn't go on for she felt a terrible chill and turned. The sun had gone and it was night, the Gothel would come for her now.

"I need to go," She breathed in deeply and grabbed his hand, "I'm sorry." She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek, all too slowly, and then she was off. She didn't look back to see his face, she couldn't. Who was she to tell him how she felt? They'd only just met, and in the end he was right, a monster was coming for her, a monster that had taken too many lives. She'd have to go to the fairies; she'd have to hide until she knew the answer.

...

When she reached Sandy she looked back, Jack hadn't run after her. It was odd, she thought he would but wished he wouldn't. When she entered the doorway there was Aster and Tooth, both with swords at their sides and an assortment of strange objects, they told her it was for protection, she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she went to her little bed and picked up the book, it was the only thing she thought to bring with her.

When she came to them they insisted she'd wear shoes and wrapped her in a shawl. Then they handed her a bag with food and herbs.

"It'll take a week," Aster told her, "a week with a lot of sleepless nights. Are you ready?"

She wanted to say she wasn't, not without Jack but she remembered she'd left him and nodded. She hugged Sandy, thanked him for everything and together Aster, Tooth and Rapunzel stepped out into the night.

Rapunzel had the book to her chest; she told herself she'd done the right thing. She didn't have her answer yet, she was protecting Jack, she was protecting everyone. Here, with Aster and Tooth, she'd be lead to a place where she could think, but then…would she not put the fairies in danger? The thoughts encircled her mind until she felt choked by them. She stopped walking.

She'd run from Jack just as she'd run since her mother told her too. One location to the next, how much longer could she wait? A howl that turns into a song, why was the answer so hard to understand. It should be simple, if she howled and sang…but a wolf does not sing and a human cannot truly howl, not that of a wolf, only an imitation that holds no power. The answer lied in combining the two worlds.

"Rapunzel?" Tooth stared at her, Rapunzel saw her foot twitch; she was sure Tooth was trying not to tap her foot.

"I can't run,"

"I can carry you." Aster said; he shared Tooth's worried expression.

"No," Rapunzel tucked the book into the back of the shawl where it was tightest, "I don't mean I physically can't run, I mean I'm not running away to hide. I can't ask you to help me, not anymore. I've spent too much time running and not thinking."

Tooth realized what Rapunzel planned to do and reached out to her, as though Rapunzel was about to jump off a cliff, "We're here to help, there's nothing wrong with getting help Rapunzel." There was so much dread in Tooth's voice, she was so afraid Rapunzel would get lost, that she was die because of a rash decision. Tooth, who thought things through so meticulously, could not understand, but Jack would.

"Wherever I go the Gothel follows, fairies wouldn't survive, it'll massacre them."

Tooth was desperate, "The fairies are powerful creatures Rapunzel, they have ways-"

"I'm so sorry, but I can't put anyone in danger, I need to end this, I need to think…" Rapunzel took a step back and called for the sun. The sun that slept woke upon her cry and soon the girl had run off on the legs of a wolf.

She heard them call after her, but they would never catch up, she was too fast. She did not know where she was running too, only that she'd have to figure things out for herself, that she had to keep everyone from harm.

Back in Jack's room stood Emma, she had her hands on the window's edge and stared out into the night. Her didn't come to pick her up from her lesson. Sometimes Jack was late, but usually it was because he'd stop by a store to get her treats, it was never more than a few minutes. When her mother came to get her they both knew, something was wrong.

"He didn't run away." Her mother told the police firmly, "All his stuff is here." Emma wanted to add "And he wouldn't leave without saying goodbye!" But the officers paid her no attention and so she ran to his room and waited.

There were tears in her eyes, she was afraid he'd gotten himself into trouble too big for him to escape. She knew her brother, he caused trouble, but he always got out of it, one way or another he made out just fine. She knew this wasn't the case and so she forced herself to stay awake, too afraid if she shut her eyes he'd come and go without her knowing.

Emma was right, Jack was in trouble and there was nothing he could do to get out of it. Rapunzel had outrun the Gothel, but Jack had not.

* * *

**I'm not sure how well I explained exactly what Tooth and the others were so if it's confusing please let me know! If it's a question about the "marks" ... I'll go into detail about it in the next chapter but there's not much to say about.**


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing Jack did when he could open his eyes was stretch out his arms. He realized fairly quickly that wherever he'd been taken had little room to move. He pushed his hands and feet against the walls around him, inhaled the smells, something of dead fish and saltwater, and looked up to see the sky. Wherever he was, it was down below; a well.

He raised an eyebrow; wells had fresh water. He looked down as his feet, the water was shallow, and a bit red. He guessed that was from the deep gash on his leg where blood had poured out for a good ten minutes. It was so cold down the well, that might have been why the blood only trickled now. He took off his hoodie and wrapped it around the wound.

"Well, crap." Jack rested his head against the concrete, or stone, whatever it was it was uncomfortable and added to his annoyance. For whatever reason his mind was on cheeseburgers and not his impending doom.

It wasn't until he noticed the chance of colors int he sky that he remembered how he'd gotten in the well. The Gothel.

He shivered and made a face; the Gothel was…strange. He laughed, at that moment he was sure his mind had started to slip. The Gothel was more than strange, it was a ghost made of monsters. He thought, just before he'd been bit, that it was a woman, a woman with a deep voice. But whatever bit him did not have teeth, and whatever he'd felt had made his vision blur and his body go limp. He thought of Rapunzel running and wondered how far she'd gotten.

"Rapunzel…" He'd only thought of her now, he cursed himself. Rapunzel had ran in the opposite direction but it hadn't been long after she'd left that the Gothel had come. Did the Gothel have her now?

He forced himself to stand and tried to climb up, again and again he fell down. Every time his body hit the water he felt another bone crack. Rapunzel was out there; the Gothel was out there. Would Sandy keep her safe? He groaned, Sandy was small, Tooth would put up a better fight, but would she reach Rapunzel in time? And North, or better yet Aster who was the most physically imposing? But which one of them would think to check on her, which one, if any, would watch over her. And how could they possibly know to be on the lookout for something like the Gothel?

Jack shut his eyes and pressed his fingers on his forehead, he was tired and weak. What did the Gothel want with him? His best guess was bait and that made him angry. He'd tried to help Rapunzel; if he really was taken to lure her out, his friendship with her only put her in danger.

"First supernatural thing to happen in my life and I mess it up." He laughed, that's not what bothered him, the echo of sarcasm reminded him why he was really upset. Someone he cared about was in danger and he couldn't even get out of the well.

He passed out after a few minutes of berating himself. When he woke up it was night again and his lips were blue, but this time he wasn't alone.

The well had seemed so small the night before, it would be cramped with two people, but a person and a Gothel…

It was silent at first, and Jack stared. He wondered if the Gothel would eat him, or if it would first suck his memories in an attempt to find Rapunzel. He backed away and waited for the inevitable. Either way, he thought, death was coming.

After another few minutes, Jack felt his leg sting, he'd been on his feet too long.

"What do you want?" He wasn't sure if it spoke English, if any language at all, the woman's voice only made noises, and here it was silent but with a presence, an aura that was deafening.

Then, the Gothel's black fog expanded, the figures of beasts that made up its body faded inward until only a woman remained. She was beautiful, strong jawline, strong cheekbones, big curly hair as dark as a country's night. She wore a red dress and a saccharine grin.

Jack didn't like her, she seemed terribly fake; his disdain showed what he hoped looked like a snarl on his face; she pursed her lips.

"Jack, I'm looking for a friend."

He scoffed, "Save the manipulation for someone who doesn't know you're a psychopathic monster." Jack waited for a slap but nothing happened. No soul sucking, no memory stealing, just the woman who stood with her arms crossed.

"Oh Jack, humans never understand the way of the supernatural."

"No kidding."

The woman shook her head, her hips swayed when she stepped closer to him, Jack felt his stomach churn.

"You know the bite on your leg, it won't kill you. I can't kill humans, but it can drive you insane." She smiled at him, "It takes a lot out of me, so I save them for special people, like you."

Jack bit back the urge to say he wasn't special; he was horribly ordinary, if anything he was special for his ability to screw up everything around him from his own life to the lives of others. He kept his mouth shut; he wasn't going to play her game.

She didn't wait for him to speak, "You are special," She grabbed his face and pushed her fingers into his skin, he squirmed from the touch but her grip was too strong, "Only because she's sang to you. I can tell. When she sings it lingers on the faces of those who heard it." She laughed and dropped her hands; blood fell from the wounds she'd left on his face.

"I thought you were something else, I sense the presence of the protector kind, what the world above the humans calls guardians. Your friends are but you aren't. It was smart of you to hid her with them but not so smart to be out alone for me to catch...You bear no mark of a guardian, only the song she gave you...the song on your skin and in your soul that says you've been touched."

The woman walked into the corner, her eyes turned black and her skin changed to the color of ash, "But you still serve a purpose, you will help me find my friend."

Jack spat at her feet; his fists were up. He'd gotten into fights at school; he'd played his pranks with enough wit to keep him from being caught, at least half the time. He was ready for her, ready as he'd ever be.

"She's not your friend, you're trying to kill her because she's the only one that can kill you."

"Don't be stupid," The woman said, "Don't you know what a wolf's howl with the ability to sing can do?" She watched him, her eyes on him every second but never blinking, "It can heal, or it can kill but not just by one, by millions."

Mist formed around her palms, "Every few years another one like her comes along, I always give them a chance. If they give me their song, they can live but they never do. It's too bad not one figures how to turn a howl into a song before they meet me." She pushed her fingers together; her skin fell like shards of glass on the ground, what remained was her shape, and that too melted into the darkness. The Gothel was gone, but he heard her voice at his shoulder, "She will come for you, and I will give her the chance I gave her predecessors, pray she's not like the others…"

Jack wiped the blood from his face. Rapunzel would come, if not because she knew his scent, it would be her song that she'd left with him. He shivered. There were too many things to think about and not enough sleep to contemplate them all. His family…his friends…what had the Gothel meant by guardians? He tried to think back to every moment he'd had with them, what had he missed? None of it made sense to him, but none of it mattered. Rapunzel would come because of him; she would die because of him. He knew she'd never give the Gothel her song.

"Please," He clenched his fists, "Don't come." He knew if she was close enough, she'd hear him, but the chances of her listening…

He looked back at the sky; the moon was nearly full and shared the night with so many stars. He laughed, the wish he'd made…if wishes really did come true, he thought, the person behind them had a very dark sense of humor.

* * *

**Some people are making guesses about where the story is going...so far none have been right :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Rapunzel had left town. She'd run so fast and so far, there were no artificial lights like streetlamps to hide the night sky. Wherever she was, it was quiet, as quiet as nature could be without the presence of humans. Her ears picked up the sounds of insects and woodland creatures, most of which feared her. She was a wolf after all.

Any other day she'd tell them they had nothing to fear, but with her stomach growling she was afraid her instinct would get the best of her, instead she walked to the Cliffside. At the edge she saw a shallow river at the bottom of a gorge; the moon was nearly full.

She was a sun wolf, not a moon wolf. The moon only sang to her in notes, not words, but to a moon wolf it spoke. There were so many moon wolves, most of them in the mountains, those that dared to tread close to humans were often shot. Still, they greatly outnumbered the sun wolves, the rarest of their kind. A sun wolf could make the sun sing, could summon it forth in the night, and, a sun wolf could bring light to the darkest places. They were so rare, not even humans gossiped about them, or even bothered to write stories of them. It made it all the more lonelier.

Her gold fur moved with the light breeze, it would be cold for a human but not for a wolf. Part of her knew how easy it would be to keep running. There was no one to hold her accountable, only the primal fear of death kept her moving. But she wouldn't dare, she had to finish this, to run would prolong the inevitable. There was only one person who could stop the Gothel, and if that one person were to hide, everything in the Gothel's wake would suffer.

She was that one person, and here she was alone, confused, terrified.

Rapunzel cleared her throat, she searched for something deep inside, not in the pit of her stomach but at the center of her soul. She hummed and sucked in a breath, a howl came out. It was more vicious than her usual howl, and louder; to her it was deafening. But it was only a howl, not a song.

"There you are." Rapunzel jumped.

It had been so quiet, the voice that spoke felt like a betrayal to the stillness, and yet, she was glad someone was with her now.

Rapunzel stepped back; in her wolf form she could not speak with words, only emotions. But she didn't need words, Tooth would understand, as she was not in her human form either.

"You must've guessed what I was," Her wings flapped lightly, like a blink in the midst of a long stare.

Rapunzel nodded, Tooth was a fairy.

"On my mother's side," Tooth told her, "I'm faster with my wings than I am on foot, but I nearly fainted chasing you." Tooth sat on the grass; she looked exhausted. They sat in silence for a few minutes; Tooth wondered if Rapunzel would change back, Rapunzel wondered if she should make a run for it. Then again, Rapunzel thought, she had come here to figure out what to do.

"You're afraid," Tooth said, she saw Rapunzel shiver, "But we can help you... if you just come with us."

Rapunzel shook her head, if she came with them she would be guarded, she would be followed, and the Gothel would take more life. Alone there was no life to endanger, alone she could clear her mind and maybe...maybe she could figure out how to defeat Gothel.

Tooth took a deep breath; every inch of her body was wracked with anxiety, her nature made her want to scream, to list the statistics and plot points to the optimal decision. But she knew better, that would only make Rapunzel run. As Tooth understood it, Rapunzel wanted to be alone to keep others out of danger, she ran to keep herself from running away. Rapunzel was here to stop the Gothel, not hide.

Tooth sighed, she had a heavy mind but her heart was gentle.

"Maybe, the howl that turns into a song isn't something that comes from logic." It hurt Tooth to say that, she relied on facts so much, all her precious lists kept her mind organized. And yet, she was sure logic couldn't help Rapunzel.

At that, Rapunzel finally changed back to her human form. She wrapped her arms around herself, her hair hung over her shoulders and covered her body. She ran her hand over her arm; it was covered in goosebumps.

"A riddle?" She said, "Or a trick, or…something I won't figure out until it's too late." She shuddered quietly. "Too late" was not an option for her.

"Do you really believe that?"

Rapunzel shook her head, for all her fear, she still had hope. Even knowing her predecessors had failed, she had hope she would figure it out in time. Where that hope came from was a mystery to her but it was there, alive and thriving at the center of her soul.

"I want to believe…I just wish,"

Rapunzel's sentence was cut short by the sound of stomping feet. She knew those feet, those of a tall man with a strange accent, Aster.

"Aster?" Tooth jumped, and Rapunzel squeaked.

Out of breath and with a hardened expression, Aster panted and held up his hands, "North sent one of your fairies," he took in a deep breath, "To find us."

Tooth stood, there was only one reason North would do that, something had happened, something bad.

"What's going on?" Rapunzel stood too, she was careful to hide herself in her hair; it was the only distraction from the fear in Aster's eyes.

"It's Jack," her heart stopped, "the Gothel has him."


End file.
